KUALA LUMPUR: Weeks of persistent flooding and landslides in Sumatra are now being assessed as more challenging and destructive than the 2004 tsunami. KompasTV’s Raja Umar revealed that aid workers are still unable to reach many affected communities due to destroyed infrastructure.
He described scenes of entire villages erased, with survivors left displaced and cut off from communication.
UTM disaster specialist Sr. Dr. Shuib Rambat stressed that this tragedy highlights the importance of hazard awareness, including river-level indicators that can forecast flood depth.
BNPB reports nearly 1,000 deaths, hundreds missing, and massive damage to more than 156,000 homes.